Changes
by jareaujareau
Summary: Set after the season 4 finale; What goes on after Fitz kicks Mellie out of the White House that night. (Team Mellie/Team Mellitz)
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: If you aren't a Mellie or a Mellitz fan, don't read. Don't leave me your reviews disagreeing with the story or what I have written. For those of you that do like it, leave me reviews, and let me know if you want me to write more. In addition, if you're a Mellitz shipper, read _I'm Yours_ , which has a sequel coming out very soon. Chapter 1 is just kind of an introduction. Don't get discouraged; keep reading and read the next chapters. :)**

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It's been a little over a week since Fitz had kicked her out. Without a fight, she took her things and she took her child and silently went down to Blair House. She hasn't spoken a word to him since then. There was no need to. She had absolutely nothing to say to him. She understood his anger, she did. But she was only trying to protect them. She was only trying to keep them, their team, their partnership, from the danger that they would be in if what was in that file got out. She understood what she did wrong, even if she had no idea what "Damascus" would do with the list of names once she got them for him. That trial meant nothing to her. She didn't know what it was about, what it had to do with that man that had all of the secrets of her and Fitz's life in his hands. Yet, even though she had meant no harm by it, she understood to a point why Fitz was angry. What she didn't understand, however, was the level of her husband's anger. He knew that she wasn't aware of what he had wanted that list of names for; he knew that she didn't know that her actions would result in something so disastrous, so terrible. And how could he possibly be that angry with her for unknowingly and indirectly being the reason that 16 plus people were murdered, when he had knowingly shot down a plane with 329 people on it? Oh, yes, she knew about that. Her and Cyrus had discussed it after he had fired Cyrus and kicked Mellie out of the house. "His house" as he called it.

She knew about Olivia being there. Within hours of her departure to Blair House, Fitz had Olivia in the Residence and they were doing God knows what, God knows where. She couldn't even be angry anymore. She was so numb at this point that she had no feelings for anything anymore. Nothing mattered anymore. Her husband, her reputation, the fact that she was now the junior senator of Virginia. It didn't matter anymore. She had lost. There was no fixing things, there was no coming back from this. If she had lost Fitz, she had lost everything, and even though she hated to admit that, it was the truth. She tried to be the strong woman who didn't need her husband, but that was far from the truth. She had succeeded in doing just that up until a little after their son died, when Fitz became the husband that he had been originally before Mellie was raped, before Olivia Pope came along. Fitz was her rock, and after all of these years of putting up with his infidelities and his hateful words toward her, they had finally gotten back to where they were before. Olivia Pope was almost a distant memory, and they were almost back to normal. They were at the point where they were sleeping in the same bed, having meaningful conversations with one another, supporting each other, and even making love. But then it all changed.

It happened so quickly that she didn't even know what had actually happened. Something in her husband had snapped, and he had gone back to the monster that he had been months before. What snapped exactly, Mellie may never know. But it was almost undeniably due to something Olivia Pope-related. Mellie scoffed at the thought. She wished she wouldn't have told Fitz to go to war for her. Sure, he would've been depressed for a while, but he would've gotten over it. There was no doubt that he would've gotten over it. It was clear that he didn't really love her the way that Mellie thought he did. If he loved her as much as it seemed, going to war to get her back wouldn't have been a debate, there wouldn't have been a question about what to do. But instead, it was a debate, and Mellie had told him to go get her. That killed her. Telling him that killed her. But it proved that no matter what the consequences, no matter how much it physically and emotionally killed her inside to see her husband in love with another woman, to hear her husband tell her that he was in love with another woman, the one thing that she truly wanted was for him to be happy.

She took another sip of her hooch and glanced over at her sleeping son. He was curled up on a large, folded-up comforter on the floor, his arm around his teddy bear and his blanket draped over him. Every time that Mellie had tried to move him into a bed, he cried and refused to let her move him. He loved sleeping on the floor, for some odd reason. Mellie could never quite put her finger on it.

She had stopped bothering to pour her alcohol into a glass, and had just settled on drinking out of the bottle. This had been her routine for the last week. After Teddy had gone to sleep, she would drown her thoughts, her soul, her life, in alcohol. The only thing that mattered anymore was her son, and that was hard for even her to believe, considering she wasn't the motherly type. Even after Jerry died, she wasn't the motherly type. But now, the only thing that she had left in this world was her child, her baby boy. And every time that she looked at that child, she saw Fitz. She hated admitting it, but every time that she thought of her husband, even when it was from looking at Teddy, she felt sick. She had a painful, nauseous feeling in the pit of her stomach. In the beginning, that feeling had caused her to run to the bathroom, to actually get sick, but she had been able to better control it recently.

As she finished off what she had decided was enough, she wondered if maybe Fitz would come around, if he would realize that he had been a little too harsh on her, that she had been the only one in his life that had been there for him through thick and thin, that had been there for him every single day for the past 20 plus years. She knew that it was a long shot, that it most likely wouldn't happen. He was too caught up in Olivia Pope to remember that all of the things that Mellie had done for him, how much she really loved him, even after everything that he had done to her. With that realization, Mellie stood up and went over to her son, leaning down and gently tapping his shoulder.

"Teddy Bear, come on. It's time to go to bed." Teddy yawned and gripped his blanket and bear, holding his arms up toward his mother. Mellie pulled her child into her arms and carried him off to the bedroom, laying him in bed. She changed into a pair of pajama pants and a t-shirt, Fitz's Navy t-shirt that she had managed to sneak out of the closet, and laid next to Teddy. He immediately snuggled into his mother, and as the soft snores began to fill the room, Mellie stared at the wall, ready for another sleepless night, where she was staying up, and staying sad.


	2. Chapter 2

"I came to get Teddy." Fitz walked into Blair House, slightly shocked when he saw Mellie lying on her stomach on the floor, in a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt, playing with Teddy and his dinosaurs. Teddy glanced up at his father for a moment, barely noticing his presence before continuing to play with his mother and with his toys. "Mellie." He repeated after a few seconds, already getting irritated at the fact that she hadn't replied to him.

"I heard you, Fitzgerald. I don't feel the need to drop everything I'm doing because you decided to snap your fingers. You should have called or given me some warning. Right now I'm playing with my son. You can come back later." Her voice was cold and she didn't look away from playing with Teddy. She didn't look at him, and that bothered Fitz more than almost anything.

He was shocked by the way that she had spoken to him, and he was more than tempted to put her in her place, but two things kept him from doing that; the fact that their son was right there, and the fact that he believed he deserved it. Partly, of course, but he did deserve it. The last time that they had spoken, the night that he had kicked her out, he had gone slightly overboard. He had been a hypocrite. She hadn't known that that was Olivia's father, she hadn't known that that was the man that had killed their son. She hadn't known what he was capable of, and she hadn't known what he wanted that list of names for, or what he was going to do with them. She was oblivious to many things, and at the time, at the time that he was full of anger, he hadn't cared about that. He was angry that she hadn't told him, he was angry that she hadn't come to him the second that she realized what she had done. They were supposed to be a team, and she didn't come to him.

This could've done differently. This could have gone in a completely different direction from the start. There were so many things that he could've done differently, that would have kept them from being in this position right now. They would have kept him from having to walk down to Blair House to get his son, and they would've kept him from staring at Mellie, wondering how in the hell they got here. He should've told Mellie about Rowan. He should've told her in the beginning. He had been angry about Mellie keeping things from him when in fact, he had kept so many things from her. Yes, he had kept these things from her to try and protect her, to try and keep her from knowing all of the terrible things that he knew that kept him awake at night. But he still should've told her. The outcome of this situation could have been completely different if he had just told her and if he hadn't kept secrets from her.

He had been angry that she had killed those people. In the back of his head, he knew that she hadn't intentionally done it, that she had no idea that that would happen, and that she was already being torn apart from the inside-out, but at that moment, he hadn't cared. And truthfully, he didn't really understand why he didn't care, he just didn't. His anger had gotten the best of him, and he pushed all of that to the back of his mind. More importantly, he had pushed the fact that he had knowingly shot down a plane with 329 passengers and killed every one of them to the back of his mind. That was completely hypocritical, whether Mellie knew about Operation Remington or not. But in the moment, he hadn't cared.

He didn't know what to do. He knew that Mellie wanted him to leave, but for some reason, he couldn't. He couldn't pick up his feet and turn around. He couldn't walk out of that house, and he really didn't know why. Olivia was waiting for him in the Residence and he couldn't bring himself to stop staring at his soon-to-be ex-wife and their son. "Mellie, we need to talk." He had spoke before he even knew what he was saying, before he even knew that the words had come out of his mouth. He wasn't exactly sure what he was going to say, but they still needed to have a conversation, regardless of what it's outcome would be.

"I have absolutely nothing to say to you, Fitzgerald." Mellie responded, her voice flat, and her eyes still refusing to look at him. She was trying to keep her cool around Teddy; truthfully, she wanted absolutely nothing but to scream at him. What she would scream, however, was completely unknown to her. She wasn't lying when she said that she had nothing to say to him. She was done. She was done fighting for him, for his love, for their relationship, their marriage. She would always love him, there was absolutely no doubt about that. He was the love of her life, the father of her three children, and the man that she had spent the last twenty years of her life with. But right now, it was much better for her sake to let him go. She couldn't chase him anymore, she couldn't beg him anymore. It was too much, and she just couldn't handle it anymore. It was time to let him go. It was time to let him have what he wanted, to let him have that divorce that he had begged her for for the last five years, and to let him have Olivia Pope. At this point, in order for herself to be happy, Fitz needed to be happy. And the fact that her own happiness relied on him being happy made her sick. "Actually, I do have one thing to say to you...when you get those divorce papers drawn up, let me know. We can work out a custody agreement and I'll sign them on the spot."

Fitz's mouth dropped slightly, and his stomach was in knots. He had been waiting for her to say those words for years, but the truth was, he didn't really want to hear them. He had always thought that he did, but now that it was actually happening, it was far from what he had wanted to hear. He had no response for this, so he just acted as if she didn't actually say it. "I'll be back at 6 for Teddy."

He watched as Mellie basically ignored him, and as Teddy failed to acknowledge his existence. He watched them for a few seconds, and a plethora of thoughts ran through his head. He turned to leave, and as he walked away, he couldn't help but glance over his shoulder to get one last look at his wife and their son. As he walked back to the White House, Mellie's words repeated over and over again in his mind. And because of that, he knew exactly what he needed to do. And he needed to do it soon.


	3. Chapter 3

"Wait, let me get this straight...you wanted me here. You practically moved me in here. I have spent almost every night here for the past two weeks, and now you're telling me I need to leave? Fitz, I don't get it."

He couldn't believe that he was doing this. Two weeks ago, he thought that this was what he wanted. Two weeks ago, he was beyond grateful that Olivia had shown up on the balcony that night. But now, he knew that she couldn't be here. He knew that he had made a bad choice, the wrong choice, and that she couldn't be here, in the White House, any longer. "Olivia, I've kicked one woman out of this house already, and I realized that that was one of the biggest mistakes that I've ever made. But, even though I'm doing that again, kicking another woman out, that's why you need to leave...because what I did to her, the way that I treated her, was completely uncalled for and completely wrong of me. And you and I both know that."

Olivia couldn't believe what she was hearing. They had been happy. They had been getting along completely fine. They had been talking about their plans for after the divorce, for after his term was over, for Vermont. There had been no talk of him even slightly regretting kicking Mellie out, or of him regretting his plan to divorce her. But she wasn't the type of woman to drop to her knees and beg him to let her stay. So she gathered her things and glanced at him once as she was about to walk out. "I hope that one of these days you decide what you really want and you let one of us go. We're not as strong as we look." Her words were spoken in a calm, yet serious tone. And with that, she turned and left.

As he watched her leave, Fitz walked over to the table and poured himself a glass of scotch, downing it as quickly as possible. He looked at the clock and realized that he had an hour until he was to go back and get Teddy. He assumed that Olivia leaving would have taken longer, and there would be less time for him to be anxious, to anticipate talking to Mellie. She didn't want to talk to him, but he wanted to talk to her. And he was trying to muster up the courage to have this conversation with her, to swallow what little pride he had left, and to apologize to her. He knew that he was wrong, that he was completely out of line, and he would do absolutely everything in his power to get her to realize that he understood that. He knew that it would be a long time before she forgave him, if he ever did, that is, but he was going to try his hardest to get her to.

The second that the clock hit 5:50, Fitz stood up and found his way down to Blair House. He didn't want to show up at exactly 6, so he wandered around for a few minutes before actually going in. Mellie and Teddy were sitting on the couch watching tv, and when Fitz walked in, Mellie was the only one to actually look up at him. "Teddy Bear, daddy's here." She ruffled her son's hair, and the little boy ignored her, keeping his eyes focused on the television screen. "Teddy."

"Mellie, it's fine, let him be. I actually wanted to talk to you for a few minutes."

She looked up at him. "Fitz, I told you earlier that I have nothing to say to you. There is nothing for us to talk about."

"Don't talk, just listen. And if you have anything to say after I say what I have to say, then that's great. And if you don't, then I guess that's fine too...I just want to talk to you."

Mellie stared at him for a second before looking down at Teddy. "We'll be right back, baby. Be good." She leaned down and kissed the top of his head before standing up and walking out to the kitchen. She had thought about going to talk in the bedroom, but being in an environment with a bed with Fitz was not a good idea. Fitz followed her and watched as she leaned against the counter and raised an eyebrow, waiting for him to start speaking. It was clear that she wasn't going to say anything, so he took a deep breath and decided that it was now or never. "I could say it a million times, and I know that it would never be enough, but I'm sorry. I feel absolutely terrible about what happened, and about what I did, and believe me, I will never forgive myself for that, so I don't expect you to forgive me for it either." He let out a sigh and looked at her. She was just staring at him, waiting for him to say more.

"I was wrong. And I absolutely hate admitting it, but I was beyond wrong. There's no excuse for it, I know. I was angry that night. I was angry that you hadn't come to me the second that someone had information on us and blackmailed you, I was angry about the fact that we were supposed to be a team, and you left me in the dark...But most importantly, I was angry at myself because I could've prevented those deaths, in more ways than one. I could have prevented the death of every single one of those people. And I could've done that by not doing the same thing that I was angry at you for doing to me; I could have done that by not leaving you in the dark. And that's a story for another time, obviously, if you let me tell it, but right now I'll stay focused." Fitz noticed that her facial expression still hadn't changed, and she hadn't moved an inch, so he took it as his chance to keep talking. "There are a lot of things that I shouldn't have done, and there are a lot of things that I'll regret doing for the rest of my life. One of those things is kicking you out, and treating you like we didn't have over twenty years of past behind us...The other is letting Olivia come into our house that night. Even I don't know why I did that...I guess, I thought I loved her. I've thought that I loved her for the past six years. But, Mellie, I love you. And I know there have been less than a handful of times that I have shown you that in the last few years, and I am so sorry for that. And if you'll let me, I'll make up for that, I promise. I've been stupid, and I can't be stupid any longer. I can't watch the woman that I truly love walk away from me, even though I pushed her away...I love you too much to let it end like this, Mel."

Mellie looked at him, trying her hardest to keep the strong face that she had put on just a few minutes ago. "Don't do this, Fitz. Don't do it. I don't know what happened in the last few hours, if Olivia left you, or what. But do not do this to me. I can't take it any more. You made your choice and I can't let you throw me out and then pull me back in again...You've put me through way too much and I am too tired to put up with it anymore."

Fitz stepped closer to Mellie, and she stepped back. "Mel, she didn't leave me. I just realized that I made a mistake."

"It took you two weeks to realize that you made a mistake!? God, Fitz, you can't keep doing this! You can't keep hurting me and then apologizing! Just because you apologize doesn't mean it's gone. You can't take it back."

He shook his head and just watched her. Even though she was trying so hard to hide it, he knew that she was on the verge of tears. "No. I knew that night that I made a mistake, that I was out of line, that I had overreacted, and that I was wrong. But I wanted to give you time to cool down, I wanted time to think. Regardless, I was going to apologize. I at least owed you that. But what I also owed you, was my choice. I have been throwing you to the side because of Olivia for too long, and you didn't deserve that. You've never deserved that. You have stood by my side through everything and you definitely didn't deserve to be treated the way that I treated you." Fitz took a deep breath and looked into Mellie's eyes. "But now, my final choice, is you. And if you won't take me back, which, believe me, I would completely understand, then it's just me. I'm not going to bounce back between you and Olivia. I have made my choice, and it's you, Mellie."

At this point, she couldn't help it; she was in tears. She was finished trying to be strong and act tough. "You can't do this, Fitz! You can't come back two weeks later after I've finally come to terms with everything and try to apologize and try to choose me. You can't do it!" She shook her head, wondering how this man always managed to break her, no matter what the circumstances.

He knew she was right. He had known that this was going to be how things went. He hadn't expected it to be easy, for her to immediately accept his apology and for her to have her bags brought back up to the Residence. He didn't know how to respond to her, because she was right. She was crying even harder when she spoke again. "Just let me go, Fitz...Let me go. Let me be happy and let me go. Because I really can't take this anymore. I can't take this constant worrying about whether you're telling me the truth or whether you're being faithful, or wondering how your mistress is treating you, because how you treat me depends on that. I just can't do it. Let me go."

That wasn't what she wanted. That was far from what she wanted. He wanted him to be telling the truth, she wanted him to actually choose her, for Olivia to be out of their lives forever. She wanted things to go back to how they were when they had first gotten married, before everything with Big Jerry had happened. She wanted them to be happy again. But she couldn't get her hopes up based on what Fitz had just promised her. She had done that too many times before, just to be broken when Olivia came back into their lives.

"I can't do that, Mel. I know I've done you so much wrong in the past, but I'm trying to make up for it now. I'm fighting for you. I'm fighting for your love, and for our life back. I'm fighting for how it used to be. And God, Mellie, I will do anything for you to forgive me and for you to let me try to convince you that I really want us to work this out and to fix our marriage. I am begging you to let me do that."

Mellie was about to speak, until she noticed the small person walking into the kitchen. "Mama?" Teddy looked up at Mellie, holding his arms up toward her. "Juice?" He questioned, and Mellie picked him up, nodding her head as she made him a sippy cup of apple juice.

"You can take it with you when you go with daddy, okay, baby?" She sniffled, and even though she tried to act like she wasn't crying, Teddy knew.

"Why you cryin'?" Teddy asked as he reached his tiny hand up toward his mother's face, and gently wiped her tears away. He laid his head against Mellie's chest and Mellie carried him back into the living room. Fitz followed, knowing that this conversation was over.

Mellie got Teddy's blanket and teddy bear out of his bedroom, and gave them to Fitz before handing their son to him. Teddy put up a fight, begging to stay with Mellie, but she promised him that he could come back in the morning and that he would be okay. He settled into Fitz's arms, still clearly unhappy about having to go with him, but not wanting to argue with his mother. "I love you." Mellie whispered, kissing her son's cheek, and Teddy whispered it back, frowning at her. It broke Mellie's heart, but she knew that he had to go with Fitz.

Fitz wasn't sure what to say, or where they stood at this point. But he figured that he would let her make the next move. He had already pushed her so far, he didn't want to push her any further. "I'll bring him back in the morning." He told her, and Mellie just nodded her head. Once he decided that she wasn't going to say anything, he just turned around and carried Teddy out.

Once they were gone, Mellie sunk down onto the couch and poured herself a tall glass of hooch. She had absolutely no idea what she was going to do.


	4. Chapter 4

_**A/N: I'm loving the reviews, y'all! Please keep them up and keep telling me what you would like to read next! The next chapter will be up within a few hours; I'm already working on it! Don't forget to review! ;)**_

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It had been a few days since Fitz had apologized to Mellie and they had their conversation in the kitchen. Things hadn't changed between them, and it had been as if the conversation had never actually happened. Fitz would go to pick up Teddy and Mellie would speak maybe two words to him, and the same would go for when he would drop him off the next morning. He knew that he had to give Mellie time to think, but the anticipation was killing him. Wondering if she was going to give him another chance or whether she was going to tell him that they had nothing left and a divorce was their best bet was killing him. But he knew that if he wanted even a chance of her choosing to try and fix their marriage, he needed to give her all of the time in the world, and he needed to leave her alone until she came to her decision.

"Go see momma." Teddy pouted, sitting on the floor of Fitz's office with his legs crossed. He had been begging to go back to Mellie since Fitz had picked him up a few hours before. Other than mentioning that he wanted to go ack to his mother every few minutes, Teddy hadn't spoken a word to Fitz.

The little boy was upset with how his father had treated his mother, and even though he was only two, he could tell that something was wrong.

Fitz looked up from the paper that he was reading, and glanced over at Teddy, who was glaring at him. "Buddy, you can go back to mommy tomorrow morning." He simply told him before going back to his work. He had tried to play with him earlier, but Teddy wasn't having it. Every time that Fitz would pick up a toy and try to play, Teddy would turn away and ignore him. So after a while, Fitz just admitted defeat and went to do some work while Teddy played by himself on the floor.

"No. Now." Teddy had never had an attitude before, but he had definitely been pushing it when it came to his father. He wasn't afraid of arguing with Fitz, especially because he knew that it would end up in him getting his way and ending up in Mellie's arms.

Fitz sighed, looking up from his paper once more. "Teddy, you will go back to her tomorrow morning. Tonight you're staying with me." He looked back down at his paper, and the next time he looked up, Teddy had his bear and his blanket in his little fists, and he was heading toward the door. "Theodore, what are you doing?"

Teddy didn't answer, just continued to walk. He climbed up on the chair that was next to the door so that he could turn the doorknob, and as soon as he had the door open, he jumped down and walked out it. Fitz was getting angry now, and got out from behind his desk, following Teddy. Once he reached him, he swooped the little boy into his arms, and the toddler shrieked loudly before starting to cry. "Me want momma!" He yelled in between sobs, trying his hardest to get out of Fitz's grip. Fitz wasn't sure whether he should discipline Teddy and make him stay, but after a few seconds of thinking, he decided that punishing his son by making him spend time with him didn't sound too right. And he especially didn't want to deal with Teddy all night if he was going to be acting like this. It was obvious that his son wanted nothing to do with him, and he wasn't going to force him to be with him if he really didn't want to be.

He carried the screaming child back to Blair House, and Mellie could hear Teddy screaming for almost a minute before Fitz had actually brought him in. "What in the..." Mellie was standing in the living room, and the second that Fitz had set their son down, he stopped screaming and ran over to Mellie, hugging her legs as tight as he possibly could. She bent down and picked him up, looking at Fitz with a raised eyebrow.

"Daddy mean!" Teddy yelled before burying his face in Mellie's neck, and she let out a small sigh before holding up a finger toward Fitz and carrying Teddy to her bedroom. She tried to set the little boy down on the bed, but he had a death grip on his mother that he refused to release.

"Teddy Bear, honey...let go for a second. I'm going to go talk to daddy, but I'll be right back, I promise. You can stay in here and watch SpongeBob, and then when I get back, you can tell me all about what happened, okay?" Teddy loosened his grip, but didn't quite let go of her, and didn't stop crying either. "Baby, I promise, I'll be right back."

After a few seconds, he decided to believe his mother, and he let go of her, looking up at his mother with pain in his eyes. Mellie's heart broke just looking at him, and she took his hand, gently squeezing it before leaning down and kissing his head. "Me drop bear..." He whispered, sniffling as he wiped snot from under his nose. Mellie reached over onto her nightstand and got a tissue, cleaning off his hand and his face before throwing it into the wastebasket next to the bed.

"Okay. I'll go get him, baby. But you have to stop crying. It makes mommy sad when you cry." She frowned and Teddy nodded, holding his arms up toward her. Mellie hugged her son for a few seconds before laying him down and draping his blanket over his small body. She turned on SpongeBob for him, and blew him a kiss as she walked toward the door. "I love you."

Mellie walked back out to where Fitz was waiting, still wondering what had caused her son to act that way. "What was that?" She asked, unsure of how else she should approach the situation. Fitz took a seat on the couch, and Mellie knew that this was going to take a while.

Fitz explained everything to her, from the beginning. Mellie knew that Teddy had been acting different toward his father, but she had no idea that it was this bad, that the only time he spoke to Fitz was when he was asking to go back to Mellie. He didn't leave out a detail, even the ones that made him look bad. He admitted that he got frustrated with their son and that he had grabbed him a little too hard when he tried to leave the Oval, and Mellie respected that he was being truthful with her. It wasn't that she didn't expect him to, it was just that Fitz had never been the type of person to admit his wrongdoings.

"I'll talk to him...But I have a feeling that this has a lot to do with how much things have changed between the two of us recently. He's a smart kid, Fitz. He knows that there is tension between us, and I hate to say it, but he resents you for it. He knows that you kicked me out and that you practically moved Olivia in the same night...Obviously he doesn't quite have all of the details, considering he's just a baby, but the way he sees it is that his daddy made his mommy leave and it made his mommy sad. He's upset with you, and in a way, it's justified. I mean, no, I don't believe that he should be treating you the way that he is, but he feels that he has a right to. And I guess that as his parents, we should probably try to make it look like we don't hate each other when he's around..."

Fitz just nodded as he listened to his wife speak. There were a few things that he wanted to argue with, but he kept his mouth shut and let her continue talking. He knew that arguing with her wouldn't do any good, especially when most of the things that she was saying were in fact true. "That would probably be a good idea...I know he has the right to be upset and to hate me, but this really hurts me, Mel..." He took a deep breath, letting out a small sigh. He had already lost one of his sons, he didn't want to lose the other one.

"I know, Fitz. So, I'll try to make more small talk with you when you come to pick him up and drop him off...And, uh," God, why was she suggesting this? "Maybe you can come and just hang out with us when you have some free time? That would help with him, and maybe he'll start warming back up to you."

"Okay. I can do that. Do you want me to stop by tomorrow, or do you think that that's too soon?"

Mellie thought for a second. "Tomorrow should be fine. Just give me a call to let me know when you're coming over."

Fitz nodded, standing up and looking at Mellie, who had stood up right after him. He was confused, but Mellie spoke before he had the chance to ask. "Teddy dropped his bear. I told him I would go get it for him." He was going to offer to go get it for her, but he decided not to. If Mellie had to go get their son's bear, that meant that she had to walk back with him, and for some odd reason, he liked the idea of that.

"Oh, okay. Well I think I might know where he dropped it, so I'll walk back with you."

The two of them walked back to the Oval Office, in silence, and Fitz could feel his heart breaking with every silent step and word that Mellie didn't speak to him. For once, it was Mellie being cold with him, and not the other way around. He knew that he deserved it. Even after he apologized, he knew that he deserved it. He had hurt her way too much in the past few years, and he knew that there was probably no way that he could ever make it up to her. After they had reached the Oval and Mellie had picked up the abandoned teddy bear that was right outside the door, she thanked Fitz and left, no smile, no other words. He watched her leave and he wondered if they had anything left, if they even had a chance. He kept his eyes on her until she was no longer in sight, and went into his office, pouring himself a big glass of scotch while trying to figure out how he could ever possibly try to make it up to her.

Mellie got back down to Blair House and went to her bedroom, smiling when she saw Teddy curled up on his side, his thumb in his mouth as he tried to keep his eyes open. Even when he had no reason to, that little boy would fight sleep until he was in Mellie's arms and he had a bottle in his mouth. "Look what I've got, little man." Mellie held up his bear in one hand, and a bottle of milk in the other. Teddy sat up and grinned, yawning as he pulled his blanket up toward him.

"I think it's nap time for my special little boy." Mellie sat down on the edge of the bed, ruffling Teddy's dark brown hair before handing him his bear. She laid down next to him and he curled up as close to her as possible, one hand holding his bottle and the other holding Mellie's shirt. He closed his eyes and fell asleep almost immediately, and Mellie just watched him, knowing that at least one good thing had come out of the past few years.


	5. Chapter 5

**_A/N: Next chapter will be up in a few hours! Reviews, PLEASE! And tell me what you want to read in the next few chapters, and if you think Fitz deserves to be forgiven yet ;)_**

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Fitz had come to Blair House in the late afternoon, and both him and Mellie were convinced that they had made some progress. At first, Teddy still refused to talk to his father, especially after what had happened the day before, but eventually, he slowly warmed up to him again. The three of them had watched Finding Nemo, played with cars and Teddy's Play-Doh, and Fitz and Teddy helped Mellie cook dinner. After they all ate together, Fitz and Mellie gave their son a bath, and now they were watching cartoons until Teddy's bedtime. When the show was over, Mellie looked down at Teddy. "Hey, Teddy Bear, how about you let daddy put you to bed tonight? I'll come in and give you a kiss after he gets you tucked in." Mellie looked down at the little boy in her lap, running her hands through his wet hair.

Teddy looked up at Mellie before looking over at Fitz, unsure of how to answer his mother's question. "Both of yous?" He suggested, resting his head against Mellie's chest. She decided that that was acceptable, and stood up, carrying her son to his room with Fitz following after them. She set Teddy down on his bed and he looked up at his mother as she got his pajamas out of his dresser. She handed them to Fitz and although Teddy was a little unsure about his father dressing him, he let him since Mellie was standing right there. Once he was dressed, Fitz laid their son down and pulled his blanket over him, handing him his teddy bear.

"Sing?" Teddy questioned, yawning as he laid his head down on his pillow. He looked up at both of his parents, who were looking at one another. Mellie had been singing him to sleep recently, and she knew that he wouldn't go to sleep if she didn't sing to him. She was slightly embarrassed about singing around Fitz, but she figured 'what the hell', and started singing quietly to her son.

 _"For you, they'll be no more cryin'. For you, the sun will be shinin'..."_ Mellie watched as Teddy smiled and slowly closed his eyes. She ran her hand through his hair as she sung, and she had actually forgotten Fitz was standing there, watching them, until he kneeled down and started to sing as well.

 _"And the songbirds are singing, like they know the score. And I love you, I love you, I love you, like never before."_ They sang together, and Teddy's smile got even wider when he realized that both of his parents were singing together. His eyes stayed closed, but his smile didn't falter until after he was asleep, and quietly snoring. But even after they knew that their son was asleep, Mellie and Fitz didn't stop singing until the very last line. _"And I love you, I love you, I love you. Like never before, like never before, like never before."_

Mellie leaned down and kissed the little boy's head, and Fitz did the same once Mellie was finished. Mellie found her way out of Teddy's room before old feelings could come to the surface, and she closed the door behind her after Fitz was in the hallway. "Thank you for coming. I think it really helped." She told him, and he just nodded, knowing that he wasn't the only one who was dwelling on their relationship after what had just happened. It wasn't much, but it was little moments like that, that had always made their marriage so happy in the beginning.

"I guess I should get going." He didn't want to, but he knew that it would be best if he did. Mellie just nodded, and he grabbed his coat off of the couch. The two of them said goodbye, and he left, going back to the Residence. He didn't even bother going back to his office, he knew that he wouldn't get any work done. How he felt right now was far worse than he had ever felt. Even when him and Olivia weren't together and he was missing her, he had never felt this terrible. He never thought that he would miss Mellie so much. He never thought that he would be so lost without her, so broken. Even though she was there and he saw her almost everyday, it still wasn't the same. It was almost harder seeing her everyday and having things be as if they weren't married, as if they hadn't been together for over twenty years. He never realized how much he needed Mellie, how much he relied on her, and how much he really did love her. He had gone the last few years thinking that there was no love left in his heart for her, when the complete opposite was true. He loved that woman more than anything in the world, and he couldn't believe that he didn't realize that before now. He couldn't believe that he had gone the last few years treating her the way that he did, and not only convincing her that she didn't matter, but also convincing himself. It was no excuse, but after she had refused to let him touch her anymore, and her attitude toward him had changed completely, he had believed that she had fallen out of love with him, and he tried to do the same. When he couldn't, he tried his hardest to convince himself that he didn't love her, and once Olivia came along, things just fell into place, the way that he believed they needed to be. But that wasn't how they needed to be.

He got in the shower, spending as much time as he possibly could in there before the hot water just became too much for him. When he got out, he didn't even get dressed before he found his phone and scrolled down to Mellie's name. He typed out a long message and erased it as soon as he was done writing it, replacing it with three words. "I love you." He didn't give himself a second to debate it, and he found himself staring at the screen until he saw that Mellie had read it, and was replying to it. His heart was pounding as he waited for a response, and he wasn't even sure what to expect. As he anxiously awaited the reply, he regretted sending the message, deciding that the only reason Mellie was taking so long to type out a message and reply was because she was going off on him. After what seemed like hours, Mellie finally replied, and Fitz stared at it for a while, reading through it over and over.


	6. Chapter 6

_**A/N: I'm going to try to write another chapter tonight, so be looking for that! Keep up the reviews, because without the reviews, I don't know if anyone's reading this and if I should write more or not. Let me know what you think Fitz should do!**_

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"I love you too. I always will, regardless of what's happened between us."

Fitz kept reading it, unsure of what he should say to that, how he should respond to it. He didn't want to scare her away, to make her take back what she said. It had obviously taken her some thinking to be able to say that, to be able to craft her words to those two sentences, and to express how she felt to him. It took him a few minutes to come up with a reply, before figuring that no matter what he said, Mellie's reaction would depend on what mood she was in. "I messed up, I get that. But I just wanted to remind you that even though I haven't shown it at all in the past few years, you're still the love of my life and you still mean absolutely everything to me."

It didn't take long for a reply this time. "I know, Fitz."

But as Mellie clicked send, she wondered if she really did know that. Because the truth was, she didn't. After all of these years, that was the last thing that she believed. But she wasn't in the mood to talk about that. Not tonight. Not this late. So she left it at that, at "I know". There was so much more that she could say, but she wasn't going to say it right now, especially not through a text.

Fitz read those words over and over again, stumbled as to what it meant, or what he was supposed to say now. He turned to his left and went to pour himself a glass of scotch, but before his hands touched the bottle, something inside of him told him that that was a bad idea. "What are you doing right now?" He sent before standing up and deciding that he should probably get dressed.

"Fitz, I don't have time for this."

He checked his phone as he was pulling on his shirt, and quickly typed a response. "I didn't mean it like that, Mels. I was really asking what you were doing."

"Lying on the couch, watching a movie. What are you doing?"

"Sitting in bed, just got out of the shower. Why are you up so late?"

Mellie's reply was almost immediate, and Fitz hadn't expected his phone to go off that quickly. "I can't sleep."

"Do you care if I come down for a while?"

This time, her reply took a few minutes. He was practically biting his nails as he anticipated her response, knowing that it could go one of two ways. But when his phone finally made the 'chime' noise that was assigned specifically to Mellie's phone number, he couldn't bring himself to look at it. "Only if you bring me something to eat. I'm starving and don't feel like cooking anything."

"How does grilled cheese sound?"

"It sounds perfect. Thank you. See you soon."

About thirty minutes later, Fitz walked into the living room, where Mellie was curled up on the couch, wide awake, her eyes fixated on the television. "I guess this is a downside of not having a staff down here, huh? Having to cook everything for yourself." He was trying to be funny and joke, but Mellie wasn't having it. It wasn't funny. The only reason she was down here and had to cook for herself and for their son was because he had kicked her out of their house. When he realized that she hadn't found him humorous, he handed her her plate and a bottle of water. "Sorry."

"It's okay. Just not in the mood for joking about that quite yet." She took the sandwich and took a bite before setting it back down on the plate. "Thank you, by the way. This is amazing. I always loved your grilled cheese sandwiches." She smiled a bit, something that Fitz hadn't seen in a while. It had been weeks since he had seen a real, genuine smile on his wife's face. Fitz took a bite of his sandwich, not wanting to stare at her for very long. He hadn't expected her to say yes to him coming to see her, and he didn't want to push it. Baby steps were completely fine with him.

Fitz nodded and sat down next to her, making sure to keep somewhat of a distance between them. "You're welcome. What are you watching?"

"The Best of Me." Mellie answered, glancing at the screen before looking back at Fitz. "I can restart it if you want. I just started it, so it won't be that big of a deal."

He shook his head. "No, honey, it's fine. I can catch up." He hadn't realized that he called her honey until he noticed the uncomfortable look on Mellie's face. He hadn't called her honey in a long time, and she was not expecting that to come out of his mouth.

Mellie wasn't one to usually jump the gun, but this had been bothering her for over an hour, and she felt the need to blurt it out. "Did you mean it?" She asked, and Fitz was genuinely confused.

"Did I mean what?"

"When you said that I was the love of your life and that I mean everything to you..." She said the words as if he didn't actually say them, as if he wouldn't have a clue what she was talking about.

Fitz bit his lip for a second before turning his body toward her, nodding his head. "Of course I meant that, Mels. I meant every word of that. I know I haven't shown that to you, but I just wanted to make sure you knew that." He took a deep breath, and watched as Mellie just nodded and turned her attention back to the movie. God, she was so hard to understand sometimes.

A few minutes later, she looked back at him and let out a sigh. "You know you can't do that. You can't just swoop in here for whatever reason and decide that you want me back after all of these years, and decide that you are going to use your way with words so that I'm putty in your hands. You can't just sweep me off my feet and bring me back to the White House because some light switch in your head came back on years later. It's going to take a lot more than that."

He didn't know what to say, what she wanted him to stay. He kept quiet for a few seconds, until he was the one saying, "I know."

"Like I said the other day, Fitz, I can't do it. I can't go back to this and then in a week, or a month, or however long it takes, you leave me again because something better comes along. I can't take it anymore. I don't deserve it, and even more than that, our son can't take it...He's already so confused and so hurt by what happened, and I'm not letting that happen again. If you want this, if you really want this, if you want me, you have to prove it to me. I'm not going to immediately forgive you and fall into your arms and move back into the White House and pretend like everything is okay. You hurt me, Fitz. You really fucking hurt me." She wasn't one to curse, and her language even surprised Fitz. But it showed him that he had really hurt her, that he had done way too much damage. "You hurt me, and I just need to know for sure that you're not going to do that again. I understand that it's not just you at fault, we've both made mistakes and we both contributed to the downfall of our marriage, to what it's become now. I am not trying to make it seem like it's just you. But at this point, I need to see you change, I need to see you make better decisions and I need to see you get your priorities in line."

"I will do anything, Mellie. Anything." He found himself speaking less than seconds after she had finished her last sentence. "I will do everything in my power to prove it to you. I love you. I really really love you. And I want to fix things, I really do. I want things to be even half as good as they were in the beginning. I will fix things, Mel. I promise you, I will make things better, and I will show you that I want this, that I want you. I'm sorry it took me so long to realize that, but I know now, and I will never hurt you again."

Fitz reached for her hand, and he was surprised when she didn't pull it away. "Then prove it to me, Fitz. I'm not going to tell you how to do it, that's something you'll have to figure out on your own. But I know you can do it if you really want this." He squeezed her hand gently, and he felt a small squeeze back. He knew that it was going to take a lot, but he was going to do it. He was going to fight for her, the way that he should've fought for her a long time ago.

"I've got this, Mel." He smiled at her and the two of them turned their attention back to the movie. They didn't move any closer to one another, but their hands stayed locked until the movie was over. Fitz hadn't really been paying attention, but had been thinking about everything that he was going to do to prove to her that she was his choice, his final choice, and that he wasn't going to hurt her anymore. He looked over at her, and she looked up at him with sleepy eyes. "I'm going to go. Go get some sleep." He dropped her hand, and for a second, he thought that he saw a hint of disappointment in her eyes.

Mellie yawned, standing up slowly as she wiped the sweat off of her hand and on to her pants. "Okay. You too, Fitz. Thank you for the grilled cheese and for coming down here to keep me company."

"You're welcome." He got up and walked toward the door. "I love you."

She debated saying it, but she knew that if they were going to work this out, even if she was relying on him to prove to her that that's what he really wanted, she might as well not make it harder that it needed to be. "I love you too."


	7. Chapter 7

_**A/N: Here's the first step of Fitz trying to prove to Mellie that she's his number one, and only one. Don't forget to review and tell me what you think of this chapter (and previous chapters!), what you'd like to see in later chapters, and what you think Fitz should do next! Y'all are the best! Enjoy! :)**_

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"Get dressed. Marta's watching Teddy. I'm taking you out tonight." Fitz sent the message, setting his phone on the bed before finding his way into the closet to find something to wear. He looked at Mellie's side of the closet, which he hadn't really noticed until now. He hadn't noticed how bare, how empty, it looked. He took a deep breath and silently hoped that soon, her things would be hanging there again. Fitz picked out a black suit and shirt, but didn't pick out his tie yet. He wanted to wait until he knew what Mellie was wearing so that he could match her.

He heard his phone go off, and he practically ran to the bed to retrieve it. "Sounds good. Getting ready now. Make sure you give me a ten minute warning."

"You got it. Let me know what you're wearing so I know what tie to wear." He sent back almost immediately as he went into the bathroom to shave and make sure that his hair looked alright. When Mellie texted back and told him that she was wearing purple, he went back to the closet to find his favorite purple tie. He sent Mellie a text to let her know that he was leaving, and that he would be there in about ten minutes. He knew that she wouldn't be ready, even with the warning, and that he would have to wait for her. But at this point, he didn't mind waiting on her. He would wait hours for her if he had to.

He went inside and stood in the living room, looking around. He didn't want to go to her bedroom, since he wasn't sure what she was comfortable with at the moment. He chuckled to himself, feeling like a teenager waiting to go on a date with his girlfriend. It was strange that they hadn't ever had moments like that.

"Mels, can I come in?" He knocked on her bedroom door, and when he heard her say he could, he slowly walked in the room. She was fixing her hair in the mirror, and the back of her dress was unzipped. "Need some help?" Fitz questioned, smiling as he walked toward her.

"Please." She laughed. "I can't reach."

Fitz zipped up her dress and spun her around so that he could see how she looked. His mouth dropped slightly when he got a good look at her. "You look stunning, Madam First Lady."

Mellie blushed, something that she hadn't done in years. Not due to something nice that Fitz had said, at least. "Well thank you, Fitz. You don't look too bad yourself." She held out her hand and Fitz took it, walking out of the room and out of the house with her. They found their way to the car, and Mellie couldn't help but smile. He was finally showing up for her.

"I made reservations at that steakhouse that you've been wanting to go to for years." Fitz told her as they got into the car, and the secret service shut the door. "I'm hoping you still want to go there...I suppose I should have asked first..." He was getting nervous that he did so,etching wrong, and he couldn't afford to do something wrong. Not right now.

Mellie chuckled, shaking her head. "It's okay, Fitz. I'm glad you didn't ask. Yes, I still want to go there. It means a lot that you remembered..." If he was going to try, so was she. She meant it when she had told him that they were both at fault in the crumbling of their marriage. There weren't just things that he had to change; there were plenty of things that she needed to change as well.

"Of course I remembered, Mel." He reached over and ran his hand through her hair. She rarely wore it straight, but for some reason, she chose to wear it that way. And God, did she look amazing. "You look beautiful. I know I told you that earlier, but you really do." He couldn't help but smile when she blushed again. He loved seeing her blush.

When they got to the restaurant, he got out and took Mellie's hand, leading her inside. They went to their table and he sat across from her, unable to stop looking at her. Even in his attempt to stop loving her, he had never once stopped thinking that she was beautiful. She had always been drop-dead gorgeous, and that was something that he could never get over, no matter how hard he tried. "So, Teddy's doing better."

Mellie nodded as she looked through the drink menu. "I noticed that. I was going to say something about that earlier, but I didn't want to jinx it." She laughed. "But I'm glad."

"Thank you for that, by the way."

She just shrugged. "Don't thank me. It was teamwork."

Teamwork. They were a team. Throughout this and even throughout how he treated her, especially after the night he kicked her out, she still considered them a team.

They both ordered their drinks and their food; Mellie got a margarita on the rocks, and steak and a baked potato. Fitz got the same thing to eat, only he got a beer to drink. Mellie kept teasing him, saying that she was surprised that he didn't get scotch, and he teased her right back, saying that he was surprised that she didn't get something harder to drink. They were joking around with one another and laughing together all night. And after a while, Mellie started to wonder if it would always be like this, if this was the start of their new life together, their new marriage. Because if it was going to be like this from now on, then she would have absolutely no problem forgiving him.

They finished eating and paid the bill, and the two of them stood up and walked to the car, hand in hand. They were both a little tipsy after having a little too much to drink, but neither of them really noticed; they were having too much fun. "Hey, Mels?" Fitz asked, wrapping an arm around his wife. He had expected her to move, but when she moved closer to him, he couldn't help but smile.

"Hmm?"

"I know I can't prove it all at once, and I know it's going to take a while for me to be able to prove it to you, since it's going to take a while to get you to trust me again. But you are the only one for me. You are my one and only, and that's how it is going to be until the day I die. I promise you this, Mel. I swear to you, you are my everything. You're all I want, you're all I need, you're everything. And I refuse to screw that up again." He turned and kissed the top of her head. "Because I love you. I need you, I want you, and I love you more than anything in the entire world. And I just want you to know that."

Mellie smiled, resting her head against his shoulder as he spoke. "You have no idea how much that means to me, Fitz..."

Neither of them spoke on the way home, and neither of them needed to. It was nice to just have each other's company, even in the silence. It felt familiar, it felt like home to them, even though it was something that neither of them had experienced in years. For the first time in a very long time, they had both felt whole again.

When they got back, they got out and Fitz took Mellie's hand, walking her to the door. Once again, he felt like a teenager, and he couldn't help but laugh to himself. The two of them walked inside, and Mellie looked at Fitz with the biggest smile on her face. "Thank you, Fitz. I can't tell you the last time I've had such a good time...It was a simple act, but it really meant a lot."

"You're welcome, Mel. Be looking forward to a lot more of these simple acts, then, because I have a lot more planned for you. I'm gonna prove this to you, I promise."

"I don't doubt that, Fitz." She smiled at him, walking toward him and giving him a hug. She wasn't ready to kiss him; not yet. If she kissed him now, it would be too much. Especially if he ended up not going through with him promise to prove it to her. If she kissed him now and something happened, she would have to start all over again. And she wasn't sure if she was strong enough to do that.

Fitz hugged her tight, softly rubbing her back as he held her. "I had a really good time too, Mellie." He pulled away from her and smiled at her, genuinely smiled at her. "I'll bring Teddy back in the morning."

Mellie nodded, watching him as he walked toward the door. "Goodnight, Fitz. I love you."

"Goodnight, Mels. I love you too." He blew her a kiss as he walked out, and the smile on her face didn't falter for a long time. She was still smiling when she changed her clothes, and when she climbed into bed. That's when it hit her. Maybe things were really going to be different this time. Maybe he really did choose her, and only her. Maybe he was going to be able to prove that. And for the first time in a long time, Mellie fell asleep without a problem. She didn't toss and turn and wonder whether Fitz was talking to Olivia Pope in his office, she wasn't wondering when he was going to throw divorce papers in her face. For once, she didn't fall asleep with worry on her mind, and she couldn't possibly be more grateful for that.


	8. Chapter 8

**_A/N: I love reading the reviews! This chapter is based off of a review that I got this morning, and there will be at least one more chapter coming today! Remember to review, and let me know what you think, and what you would like to see!_**

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"Are you ready to go to the park, buddy?" Fitz asked his son as he tied the little boy's shoes. Teddy nodded quickly, grinning from ear to ear as he watched his father. He was beyond excited about going to the park with his parents; it had been a long time since he had been to the park, and even then, it had been with Marta or Nanny Jen. He had never been to the park with Mellie and Fitz, and he was really looking forward to showing them everything. He was excited to slide down the slide with Mellie, to let Fitz push him on the swing, and to show them both how fast he could run across the soccer field. As soon as Fitz finished tying his shoes, he jumped off of the couch and ran into the kitchen, tugging at the bottom of Mellie's pants.

"Mama! Let's gooooo!" He yelled, and Mellie just laughed as she leaned down and picked him up. She balanced him on her hip as she finished making ham and cheese subs for the three of them. Fitz helped her put them in Ziploc bags and then put them into the tote bag, along with a few bags of chips, some snacks, and a few bottles of water. After she finished packing their lunch, she made sure that Teddy's diaper bag was packed, and that he had everything that he would need on their family outing. When she had checked everything twice, she told Fitz that she was ready to go, and they headed out.

Since it was a nice day out, they decided to walk to the park. It wasn't as peaceful as it would be without the secret service and the agents following them, but it was still peaceful. By the time that the playground was in sight, Teddy was squirming and trying his hardest to get out of Mellie's arms. She laughed as she set him down, and watched him run at full-speed, looking back every few seconds to make sure that Mellie and Fitz were still behind him. "Hurrys!" He yelled back at them, and Mellie looked at Fitz before looking back at Teddy.

"I'll race ya." She told him, smirking as she prepared to start running.

"You're on." Fitz grinned and glanced at Teddy. "Ready? Set, go!"

The two of them started running, laughing together as they ran to catch up to their son. Teddy giggled as he watched his parents, and Fitz scooped him into his arms, smiling as he turned to see Mellie right next to him. "You were pretty close, but I'm gonna have to say that I won that one." He joked, winking at his wife. Mellie just laughed, leaning down and kissing Teddy's head. "What do you think, buddy?"

Teddy shrugged, giggling as he reached for Mellie. "Me no know."

Mellie took him into her arms, tickling his stomach as they walked the rest of the way to the playground. "What do you want to do, buddy?"

"Slide!" He pointed to the tall slide in front of them, and looked down at his mother. "Yous go?" Teddy asked, putting on his famous pout to make sure that Mellie would agree to go with him. He held onto her as Mellie carried him up the stairs and up to the slide, Fitz staying at the bottom so that he could watch them come down.

"Of course I'll go, sweetheart." She kissed his temple before getting on the slide with him, slowly sliding down as she held him close to her. Teddy giggled the whole way down, and Mellie couldn't help but smile as she heard the laughs escaping her son's mouth. When they reached the bottom, Fitz was waiting there, clapping for them both. Teddy smiled and clapped as well, begging Mellie to go again. She took him back up and the two of them went down again, Teddy's laugh echoing throughout the park.

When they got off the second time, Teddy toddled over to Fitz and pointed at the swings on the other side of the playground. "Swing!" He jumped up and down and ran over to them, hoping that Fitz would follow him. He did, of course, and Teddy tried his hardest to get up in the swing on his own. Fitz watched him struggle for a second, until Teddy looked at him and frowned. He lifted him into it and slowly pushed him, laughing as Teddy begged him to push him higher and higher. Mellie watched from a bench behind them, and Teddy grinned when he saw his mother. "Mama! Look!"

"I see you, baby! You're so high!" Mellie waved at him, smiling and taking a few pictures with her phone. She had Fitz's as well, and when she heard the familiar noise of a ringtone, it took her a second to realize that it wasn't her phone that was ringing, but Fitz's. Olivia Pope's name flashed across the screen, as well as a message. She wanted so badly to look at it. She knew that she shouldn't, but she wanted to. Had Fitz been talking to her? Was she just texting him out of the blue? What was she texting him about? There were so many questions she had that could just be answered by opening the message, but that would be distrusting Fitz. That would go against everything that they were trying to fix. It was wrong of her to open the message, and so she didn't. Of course, she would wonder what it said. She would wonder if Fitz was still talking to her, if he really hadn't changed. But then she realized, if he had something to hide, he wouldn't have given her his phone. "Fitz! You have a text message."

Fitz looked back at her for a second, before going back to pushing their son. "Who's it from?"

Mellie's answer was immediate. "Olivia."

He wasn't sure why Olivia was texting him, but he wanted Mellie to trust him. And he had absolutely nothing to hide from her. "Will you open it and tell me what it says, please?"

A load was lifted off of Mellie's shoulders when he told her to open it. She couldn't possibly explain how happy she was that he had told her to open it for him. In the back of her mind, she wondered if he had still been talking to her, but as she opened the conversation, she realized that there hadn't been a message between them in over a week. Of course, there was always the possibility that he deleted them, but that didn't seem like Fitz. Not anymore. "She asked if you've made a decision..." She looked up at Fitz, and he excused himself from pushing Teddy for a moment.

As he walked toward his wife, Teddy looked back at his parents, curious about what was going on. Fitz took his phone from Mellie, typing a quick message before handing it back to her. Mellie watched him, confused as she took the phone back. She wasn't sure if she should look at the screen or not, so she just continued to look at him. "You can read it, Mels."

"Mellie. I choose Mellie."

The tears welled up in her eyes as she read the text over and over again. It seemed so much more real now that he had told Olivia. She wasn't sure why it seemed that way, but it just did. "Thank you..." She choked out, and it was obvious that Fitz had reassured her that he was serious about trying, that he really wanted her back.

"Don't thank me. It's what I needed to do." He leaned down and kissed the top of her head. "If she texts back, feel free to answer anything she says, however you'd like." He walked back over to Teddy, who was swinging slowly, waiting for his father to come back. Mellie alternated between looking at the phone and at Fitz and Teddy. It was amazing how just one four-letter text message could mean so much to her.

Once Teddy was done swinging and the three of them were getting hungry, they all settled down on the grass to eat their lunch. Teddy was curled up in Mellie's lap, munching messily on his sandwich and shoveling barbecue Lays into his mouth. Mellie and Fitz both laughed as they watched their son eat, and Teddy was absolutely oblivious as to what they were laughing at.

"Did Olivia say anything else?" Fitz asked, and Mellie just handed him his phone.

 _"Mellie? You choose Mellie? Are you serious?"_

 _"Yes."_

 _"For good? You're not going to get her hopes up and then come running back to me?"_

 _"No."_

 _"Really?"_

 _"Yes."_

 _"Why don't I believe that?"_

 _"I don't know."_

 _"I'll believe it when I see it, Fitz."_

 _"Okay."_

 _"Good luck with her. I hope it works out and I hope you finally find out what you want."_

 _"Thanks."_

"I had to reply with short answers to keep from getting rude with her...I was tempted, believe me." Mellie laid her head on Fitz's shoulder as she ate her sandwich, and Fitz read through the text messages.

"You did good. I know that that was probably hard for you..." He frowned and kissed her head as he slipped his phone back into Mellie's hand. "I know you don't need it, but you have full permission to go through my phone at any time. You have full permission to look over my shoulder and to read my texts whenever you want. I want you to trust me. And I don't know if you'll do it or if that will make you feel better, but I just want you to know for sure that I have nothing to hide. I know that it'll take a while for you to be able to fully trust me again, if you ever will, and believe me, I know I don't deserve your trust. But I think that that'll help you believe that you're the only one that matters to me anymore, and that you're my one and only." He took Mellie's hand and gently squeezed it, and Mellie squeezed it back, smiling at him.

"Thank you, honey...You have no idea how much that means to me." She turned and kissed his cheek, looking down at Teddy. "I know you're working on earning my trust back and proving to me that things are going to be different, but I think you should try doing that with Teddy too..."

Fitz nodded, running his hand through Mellie's hair. "I agree. You think he'll let me talk to him alone later?"

"I think he will."

After they finished eating, Mellie told Fitz and Teddy that she wanted to rest for a few, so the two of them decided to go for a walk. Fitz picked up Teddy and carried him, waiting a few minutes before he decided to start talking to him. "Hey, buddy?"

"Huh?" Teddy asked, looking up at his father.

"I know that, uh, things have been pretty different lately. And I know that daddy was mean to mommy a while ago, and that that hurt you pretty bad." He ran his hand through Teddy's hair. "And I've said sorry to mommy, but I haven't said sorry to you. I know that when I hurt mommy, I hurt you too, and I didn't mean to do that, buddy. I didn't mean to hurt either of you. And I'm so sorry for that." Fitz was on the verge of tears. He felt terrible for what him kicking Mellie out of the house did to his son. He had no idea that it would have affected him as bad as it did.

Teddy cuddled in closer to Fitz, wrapping his arms around his neck and laying his head on his shoulder. "It kays, daddy." He whispered, kissing Fitz's cheek. Fitz just smiled, kissing the top of the little boy's head.

"Thanks buddy. I promise I'm gonna be nicer to mommy now, okay?"

"Kays."

Fitz walked around with Teddy some more, until he was falling asleep on his shoulder. When they got back to the playground, Mellie was sitting on the bench, talking on the phone with Elizabeth. When she saw her husband and son, she told Elizabeth that she had to go, and smiled at Fitz. "He sleepin'?" She asked, her southern accent poking through as she spoke. He just nodded, and carefully handed their son to his wife. "Are we ready to go home?"

"Yeah. We should probably get him laid down for his nap. And out of the sun so he doesn't get sunburnt."

Mellie nodded and stood up, walking back with Fitz. When they got back, Mellie took Teddy to his room and put him down for his nap before coming back into the living room, where Fitz was sitting on the couch. "I had a lot of fun today. I'm glad we did that. And I think Teddy really enjoyed it," Mellie told him as she sat down on the couch, resting her head on Fitz's shoulder.

"I did too. And I think he did too. I don't think I've ever heard him laugh so much. It was nice. We're finally becoming the real family that we're supposed to be." He took Mellie's hand, gently rubbing it as he looked at the wall.

Mellie smiled, closing her eyes as Fitz rubbed the top of her hand. "We are."

The two of them stayed silent for a few minutes, until Fitz slowly got up. "I should get back to work. Do you and Teddy want to come up later so that we can all have dinner together?"

When he got up, Mellie sat up as well, slowly opening her eyes. "We would love to."

Fitz turned to leave, but Mellie took his hand and stopped him. She stood up and wrapped her arms around his neck, looking into his eyes for a few seconds before leaning in and pressing her lips against his. They kissed for a few seconds before pulling away and smiling at one another. It was an innocent kiss, but it was a step. They were taking baby steps, but at least they were steps.

"I'll see you later, okay? I love you." Mellie squeezed his hand before pulling away, watching as Fitz walked to the door.

"I love you too, Mels." He walked out, feeling as if they were really getting somewhere. He hadn't expected it in the beginning; he really didn't believe that Mellie would even consider taking him back. But he was so glad that she did, and he was so glad that they were on their way to becoming a family again. Slowly, but surely.


	9. Chapter 9

_**A/N: Hey y'all! I absolutely LOVE reading what you all have to say, as well as your suggestions about what you want to read! PLEASE keep that up, because your suggestions really really help me in deciding what I'm going to write next. I've put a few of the suggestions that I've got recently into this chapter (actually I think I put three of them in here, but there may be more or less). Please keep reviewing and keep letting me know what you'd like to read and see! (And as for those of you asking for a love scene, don't worry, there will definitely be one very soon!)**_

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"Teddy is asleep, the scotch is poured, and we are ready to have our conversation." Mellie came out into the living room, two glasses of scotch in her hand. She wasn't a big scotch drinker, but for some reason, she was feeling it tonight. She handed one glass to Fitz before sitting down next to him, taking a sip of the hard liquid.

"So, I think we should talk about what we both need to fix…" Mellie suggested, crossing her legs under her. Fitz just nodded and let Mellie talk, knowing that she would probably have more suggestions than he would. "We both definitely need to trust one another more…But I think that to do that, we both need to be completely honest with each other. We have to have full-disclosure with each other, no matter what. There is absolutely nothing that is acceptable to hide. And I think that was our main problem in the end…I think that we were both hiding things from each other, and obviously we see from experience that that doesn't work out very well." She took another sip of her drink, looking at Fitz as he nodded his head. There were quite a few things that they needed to work on, but that was definitely one of the most important.

"I definitely need to control my anger as well…I think that all of this, you being here, could have been avoided if I had let myself cool down a little bit. I know that I overreacted, and that is definitely something that I want to work on. I need to learn how to quit getting so angry and blowing every situation completely out of proportion." Fitz admitted, and the two of them were really feeling like they were getting somewhere. This was a huge step, talking to one another about their issues, and they were awfully glad that they were really trying to work things out.

Mellie nodded, looking at Fitz as she tried to think of what else they needed to work on. They needed to work on so many things, but it was difficult to pinpoint just what they needed to work on. "Honesty, trust, and anger management…What else?"

"I think we need to make sure that we communicate more often…Increase the romance and the time that we spend together. I mean, other than the other night, even before I became president, when was the last time that we had a date night with each other?" Fitz questioned, and even after some serious thinking, neither of them could remember the last time that the two of them had gone out together. "Exactly." Fitz said to prove his point, and Mellie knew that he was right; they definitely needed to spend more alone time with one another.

The two of them talked all night, trying to discuss what they needed to do to ensure that they wouldn't end up back in this same place again. They both wanted to be sure that it wouldn't get this bad ever again, and that they didn't make the same mistakes that they had made in the past. They were tempted to fix things, to fix everything, and to make their marriage and their relationship with each other better than ever before.

"I have something I want to tell you." Mellie yawned as she drank the last of her fourth glass of scotch. "I'm asking you to not get angry with me, and I'm asking that you just listen to me and not freak out until after I finish…I'm telling you because we agreed to be honest with each other and because we agreed to tell each other everything." She took a deep breath, biting her lip. "I've been talking to one of the agents that has been down here with me…Nothing has happened between the two of us. Just a kiss. One kiss, that's all. And it was a while ago, before our date the other night…I've still been talking to him, but we haven't done anything." She hated admitting this to him because she knew that he would be angry. She had no intentions of developing a relationship with this man, but she wanted Fitz to know regardless. She had just needed someone to talk to when she was down here.

Fitz nodded slowly, trying to process what she had just said. He was trying to figure out a way to respond, a way that didn't make them take ten steps back after they had just taken five forward. "Which agent is it?" He questioned, wanting to get all of the facts.

"Anthony."

"And how long have you been talking to him?"

"Since the day after you kicked me out. It's innocent, Fitz. I have no feelings for him."

He was relieved to hear that, but he knew that he needed to ask the next question. "Does he have feelings for you?"

Mellie's answer was what really scared him. "I don't know."

Fitz stayed quiet for a few minutes, trying to figure out what that meant. Mellie didn't have feelings for him, but he most likely had feelings for her. How could you not have feelings for Mellie? She was beautiful, selfless, graceful, kind, and one of the all-around greatest people that have ever walked this earth. It was nearly impossible not to have feelings for Mellie. He was in a trance until he felt something nudge his arm, and he looked to his right to see that it was Mellie's phone. "Here. Read through them. You let me read your texts with Olivia, so I'll let you read mine with Anthony."

He was reluctant at first, but Mellie insisted. He looked through the messages, which started a little over a week ago. They had texted every day, not always about anything important, but just about random things. Mellie hadn't really discussed anything personal with him, at least not over text, so Fitz had no reason to believe that she had any feelings for him beyond the friendship level. He handed Mellie her phone back, thanking her for letting him read the messages. Still, even after reading them and realizing that there was no connection between them, he couldn't help but feel jealous as he thought about Mellie with another man. His mind wandered back to Andrew and the relationship that him and Mellie had had previously, and he felt a pain in his chest from just thinking about it.

"It's getting late." Fitz looked at the time before looking back at Mellie. She just nodded, and he could see in her eyes that she didn't really want him to go. But he knew that they should probably keep at the pace that they were going at, and that he should go sleep in the Residence, in his bed, and that she should sleep here. They were eventually start sleeping in the same bed again, but the two of them wanted to give it some time; they didn't want to take anything too fast, just in case it messed up everything.

He gathered his things, pulling Mellie to her feet and giving her a hug. He gently kissed her lips, and Mellie kissed him back, slowly slipping her tongue into his mouth. Her willingness was a mixture of the alcohol and the fact that they had made some serious progress in the past few hours. Neither of them pulled away until they couldn't breathe any longer, and when they looked at each other, for the first time in a long time, they could see the love in each other's eyes. "I love you, beautiful." Fitz whispered, pushing a piece of her hair back behind her ear.

Mellie blushed, smiling slightly. She wanted to ask him to stay, she wanted to lay her head on his chest, to fall asleep with his arms around her. But she knew that they weren't ready for that, that she wasn't ready for that. She needed more convincing, which seemed awfully demanding, considering how much he had really done recently. "I love you too, Fitz." She told him, sneaking one more kiss before he promised that he would be back in the morning, and went back to the Residence.

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When Fitz walked into Blair House the next morning, Teddy was curled up on the couch in his Superman pajamas, watching SpongeBob with a bottle in his mouth. Fitz had called Mellie multiple times before he showed up, but for some reason, she hadn't answered the phone any of the times that he had called. He looked around for a few seconds, raising an eyebrow as he looked at Teddy. "Buddy, where's mommy?" He questioned, and Teddy just shrugged. "Is she in her room?"

"Nos." Teddy looked up at Fitz, pulling his blanket up to his chest. "Me no see hers." His attention almost immediately went back to the television, and Fitz couldn't help but get the feeling that there was something really off; something just wasn't right.

Fitz nodded, kissing the top of his son's head as he walked down the hallway, looking for his wife. He walked slowly down the hallway, scared of what he might find when he looked in her bedroom. He peeked in the door, and his mouth dropped at the sight. The lamp on her nightstand was knocked over, the sheets were ripped off of the bed, there was broken glass everywhere, and Mellie's phone was sitting on the dresser. Fitz's heart dropped and his stomach was in knots as he wondered what in the hell had happened to Mellie, and how no one had noticed it.

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 ** _A/N: Sooooo...Let me know what y'all think, and what you think happened to Mellie. It may or may not be what you think. ;) Stay tuned for an update tomorrow! :)_**


	10. Chapter 10

**_A/N: Hey y'all! Thanks for reading and letting me know what you thought! Keep up with the reviews and letting me know what you think, and what you want to see!_**

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Fitz tried not to panic. Where was she? Did someone take her? Was she kidnapped? What had possibly happened to Mellie? He knew that it was probably a panicking situation, but before he called in the troops to find his missing wife, he wanted to make sure that she was really missing; he wanted to be sure that she wasn't anywhere in the house. Of course, that would be difficult, considering that there were over a hundred rooms in Blair House alone, but he would personally search through them all if he had to. But first, he would go out and see if Teddy could be of any help. He had to of noticed Mellie's absence.

"Buddy?" Fitz called out as he walked out to his son, who just looked up at him with tired eyes as he sucked on his thumb. He didn't know exactly what he should ask him, or how he could really help him, but he was going to try somehow. "Where did you sleep last night?"

Teddy sat up and looked at his father, taking his thumb out of his mouth. "My rooms." He told his father, who wasn't sure if that was a relief or not. Fitz just nodded, letting out a small sigh as he tried to think of another question to ask. As he was thinking, he noticed the bottle in Teddy's lap for the first time.

"Have you seen mommy at all this morning?" He questioned, and Teddy just nodded, giving Fitz an extreme feeling of relief. "Where was she?"

The little boy shrugged, completely taking his attention off of the cartoons that he was watching. "Mama gone?" He asked with worry in his eyes. Oh, no. Absolutely not. Fitz couldn't possibly tell him that he didn't know where his mother was; he might lose it. He took a deep breath and just shook his head.

"No, buddy. She's here, I'm just trying to figure out where." He frowned as he tried to think of where his wife could possibly be. He took out his phone to call her, cursing to himself when he remembered that her phone was sitting on her dresser. "I'll be back in a few, okay? You just sit here and watch SpongeBob." Fitz ruffled his son's hair, trying to convince him that everything was okay. At least now, it was a little bit better, considering that Mellie was somewhere in the house. Where she was exactly, however, Fitz needed to find out soon before he went crazy.

He searched through a few more rooms before he looked went to the bathroom attached to Mellie's bedroom. He opened the door slowly, afraid of what he would find, or if he would find anything at all. When he had opened the door, he heard water running, and was hit with not only a sense of relief, but also a sense of worry. "Mel?" He called out, receiving a muffled noise as a response.

"Hmm?"

Fitz let out the breath that he had been holding since he had walked into Mellie's room earlier, and as bad as he wanted to open the shower door and go in there fully-clothed so that he could hold his wife, he fought the urge. He had thought that she was gone. He had thought that something had happened to her, that someone had taken her. And that was the absolute worst feeling that he had ever felt.

"How long are you gonna be?" He asked, not wanting to bombard her with questions and with him telling her how relieved he was that he had found her, even though she clearly wasn't even missing.

It took a few seconds for Mellie to answer, and when she did, her voice was dry. "Just a few minutes." She responded quietly and Fitz knew something was wrong, although he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

"Okay, honey. Do you need anything?"

Her response was short, and almost inaudible. "No."

He quietly left the room, closing the door behind him and going back to where Teddy was watching tv on the couch. "Hey, little man...What do you want for breakfast? I'm gonna make you and mommy something to eat, okay?"

Teddy's head shot up the second that his father mentioned breakfast. "Cookies?" He asked, putting on his signature pout so that his father would give in to him. Of course, the pout worked to his advantage, and Fitz chuckled as he picked up his son and carried him into the kitchen.

"You can have cookies, but you have to promise me one thing." He set the little boy on the counter as he rummaged through the refrigerator to find something to make for breakfast. "You have to eat your breakfast when it's ready, okay?"

Teddy nodded quickly, watching as Fitz took out a box of pancake mix, a carton of eggs, and a box of bacon. When Fitz was looking at him, Teddy held his bottle out toward his father. "Milk?"

"Of course, little man."

Mellie came out of the bedroom right as Fitz was finishing up breakfast. She was wearing a silk bathrobe and her wet brown hair was tied up in a messy bun. She had bags under her eyes, and Fitz wondered if she hadn't slept at all the night before. "What's all this?" She asked as she sat down at the island, only noticing Teddy once he was in her face, offering her a cookie. "No thank you, baby. You can have it. You deserve it for being such a good boy." Mellie ruffled her son's hair, letting out a small sigh as she looked at her husband. She had just been wondering what she was going to make for breakfast; at this moment, she couldn't possibly be more grateful for Fitz.

"I could tell something was wrong...I'm not going to pester you to tell me what, or tell me why your room looks like someone tried to kidnap you last night, but I figured you needed to relax, so I made you and Teddy breakfast." He walked over to the other side of the island, kissing the top of Mellie's wet head. She whispered something about talking to him later, and he just nodded, wrapping his arms around her waist. She had no idea how glad and relieved he was that she was okay, that nothing bad had happened to her. In the few minutes that he had been looking for her, he was expecting the worst. He was expecting that someone had taken her and that there was a possibility that he would never see her again. He was expecting that someone had hurt her, and was still hurting her, and he didn't think that he had ever been more afraid in his entire life.

He took in the scent of her strawberry shampoo as he rested his nose on the top of her head. As a surprise to him, Mellie didn't move and she let him stay there, in that position, as long as he needed to. Although he hadn't said it, she had some idea of what he had thought; she knew how the room looked, and she knew that he had sounded relieved when and out of breath when he had called her name in the bathroom. He didn't have to say it; she knew.

When everything was done cooking, Fitz made Teddy a plate and got him settled in the living room. He came back to the kitchen, where Mellie was sitting at the counter, eating the plate of food that she had just made for herself. Fitz didn't want to bother her, but it was killing him; he needed to know what happened.

"Do you want to tell me what happened with your room?" He questioned, deciding that he would start there. The look on Mellie's face said that she was ashamed about something, but Fitz wasn't sure just what it was.

"I drank a little too much last night...After you left and I realized what day it was, I brought out the hooch and the next thing I knew, I had gone through half of the bottle. I texted you after you left. I tried to get ahold of you, but I didn't call because I figured you went to sleep and I didn't want to bother you since I knew you had to be up early." She frowned. "I'm not proud of it. I just couldn't help it when I realized what day it was, how long it's been..." Mellie took a sip of the glass of orange juice that Fitz had poured for her when she came out of the bedroom. She refused to meet his gaze; she didn't want to see the disappointment in his eyes.

To her surprise, Fitz wasn't angry. He didn't yell, he didn't ridicule her, he didn't tell her off. He just sat next to her, running his hand up and down her lower back. "Eighteen years now, isn't it?"

She nodded, her breathing hitched as she mentioned it. She didn't expect him to know what she was talking about, but she was beyond glad that he did. She didn't want to say it out loud. She couldn't say it out loud. She had only said it less than a handful of times since it had happened, and for some reason, each time cut and physically pained her like it was something she should be ashamed of; like it was her fault. It was as if her father-in-law holding her down and forcing himself inside of her was her fault.

Fitz took out his phone, looking through his messages and feeling a wave of guilt overcome him when he realized that Mellie had indeed texted him the night before. _"Can you come back down here?"_ He couldn't quite understand how he had missed it, and he couldn't help but feel bad for not seeing it when she sent it. She had needed him last night and he wasn't there for her.

"I'm so sorry, baby..." Fitz moved closer to her, wrapping his arms around her and holding her as close as he possibly could. Mellie just leaned into him, not saying a word as she cuddled into his embrace. She was lucky to have him; it was nice having him be here for her after all of the years that he wasn't. It was a change, but it was a damn good one.

"Don't be sorry." She whispered after a few minutes, laying her head against his shoulder. "You're here now and that's all that matters."

They sat in that position for a while, until Teddy came running in, wondering where his parents were. Mellie sat up and pulled away from Fitz, giving him a sincere, thankful smile as she went back to eating her food. She was still believing that this was a dream, that things would go back to being the same way that they had been just months ago. She wasn't quite sure how long it would take for her to accept that this was real and that Fitz was most likely going to be there for her from now on, but if this was really how things were going to go, she was willing to take as much time as needed.

"Thank you again, Fitz...I mean it." She got up and rinsed off her plate, putting it in the sink before walking back over to her husband. She wrapped her arms around him, resting her head against his chest. He immediately put his arms around her, and she couldn't help but think of how good it felt. It felt so nice to be in his arms again. It was an unfamiliar feeling, after all of these years, but it was still nice. She wasn't used to him holding her anymore; she wasn't used to him loving her and openly expressing his love to her anymore. But at this point, she couldn't think of anything that she wanted more than to know that he was here, that he really did care about and love her. It was nice knowing that he was trying, and he truly was trying.

"Don't thank me, Mels. It's my job." He softly kissed her lips, not thinking of anything in the world but her. As he kissed her and held her in his arms, he couldn't believe that he had ever abandoned her the way that he did. He couldn't believe that he had taken advantage of her for so many years and that he hadn't loved her the way that she deserved. He didn't deserve her, and he knew that. But by the grace of God, he was close to having her again, and he couldn't be more grateful.

And that fear, the fear of losing her, of something bad happening to her, made him realize more than anything how much he really did love her and how lost he would be without her. "You know you scared the hell out of me, right? When you didn't answer the phone and I came here and couldn't find you...When I went in your room and it looked like someone had pulled you out of bed and grabbed you, like someone had taken you...God, Mel, I was so scared." He fought the tears that were threatening to fall as he remembered the fear that he had when he had thought that she was gone.

"I'm so sorry, Fitz...I didn't mean to do that to you." Mellie frowned, letting out a small sigh as she looked up at her husband. "After I had finally fallen asleep last night, I had a nightmare and when I woke up, the room was destroyed...I guess I had tried taking out my anger while I was sleeping."

"It's okay, Mel. I was just worried. But you're okay...So I'm fine." He kissed the top of her head, still holding her close to him as he spoke. "What do you say about us spending the day together? You, me and Teddy? I might have to do some work, but I wouldn't mind doing it down here with my two favorite people by my side."

"I think that's a great idea, honey."


	11. Chapter 11

**_A/N: Hope y'all have enjoyed the last few chapters, and I'm beyond glad that those of you who are reading this have liked this story enough to make it here, to the 11th chapter! (I can't believe it's been 11 chapters already!) Warning: Explicit content. The first few paragraphs and the last few are necessary to the plot, however, the x-rated parts start soon after. Let me know what you think and keep up those reviews! I love reading them and I love seeing what you think and what you like to see in future chapters! Most of my ideas come from reviews, so if you want to see something, don't be afraid to ask! Now on to the story! Hope you enjoy:)_**

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"Hey, Mel?" Fitz asked, gently rubbing his wife's back as they laid on the couch together, Mellie's head rested on her husband's chest. They had just gotten Teddy to bed, and were taking advantage of some much needed relaxation time. She made a small noise to let him know that she was listening, and he continued to speak. "The drinking. The drinking is an issue that we need to change. Both of us. I'm not going to be hypocritical and say that you're the only one that needs to control the drinking. I know I do too. And believe me, I know you had more than enough reason to drink last night...But I definitely think that we both need to work on decreasing how much we drink...Especially now that we're both being a lot more active in Teddy's life. He doesn't need to see us drunk."

Mellie just nodded, not saying a word to her husband. He was right, beyond right. About everything. They did need to stop drinking so much. She wasn't sure who was worse, her or Fitz. Fitz had nearly drank himself into oblivion a year ago, and he drank almost every night. Mellie didn't drink every night, but when she drank, she drank hard. She drank to the point where she was spilling every feeling she had ever had and telling it like it is. She drank to the point where lies didn't exist, and she told the truth about everything, and anything. Drunk Mellie told it like it was.

They laid there for a while, watching some movie that they had put on a while before. Neither of them were really paying attention, just lost in their own thoughts, in their own minds. All of a sudden, Mellie got up and went into the kitchen, and Fitz couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at how quickly she had gotten up. He was tempted to follow her, but he stayed out until he heard his name being called. "Hey, Fitz?" Almost immediately he got up and wandered into the kitchen, looking at mellie, who was just nonchalantly leaning against the counter.

"I've been trying to think of a creative way to do this, but days later, I have nothing, and I can't hold it back anymore. You've really proved to me that you are serious about wanting me back, and that you're serious about repairing our marriage. You've proved to me that you love me and that we're done playing games, and that you're going to be faithful to me from now on. You've proved that you've really changed and that you're going to treat me better. And I think we've both proved that we're in this until the end and we've both recognized our own faults and agreed to fix them. And I think that we're both in much clearer mind frames than we've been in recently." She took a deep breath and looked at her husband. "So, basically, what I'm saying, where I'm going with this...as if it wasn't clear already, I'm saying yes. I'm saying yes to fixing our marriage and to taking you back, and to eventually moving back into the Residence. You've done nothing but prove to me that you want me in the past two weeks, and that's all I've wanted for so many years...God, Fitz, that's what I've been hoping and praying for for so many damn years. And finally, I got it. And I know that's it not a dream now, and I know that it's real, and I couldn't possibly be more grateful. I couldn't possibly be happier. And it sucks that it took such a tragic and shitty situation to make this happen, but I'm grateful."

He hadn't expected her to say that. He hadn't expected this when he had gotten up to walk into the kitchen. He expected her to offer him something to eat, or ask if he was hungry, or ask if he would help her make something to eat as a midnight snack. This had been the absolute last thing that he had expected her to say. But as she had just put it, he couldn't possibly be more grateful. "Oh, Mels..." Fitz walked toward his wife, pulling her into his arms, into a tight embrace. After what she had just said to him, he never wanted to let her go. He never wanted to unwrap his arms from her again. He could stand here with her in his arms for the rest of his life and he would never have a complaint. He was never going to let her go again.

Fitz looked into her eyes and blue met blue for the few seconds before their lips crashed against one another. The kiss was innocent at first, but was deepened and became more passionate almost immediately. Fitz's hands tangled up in her hair as he kissed her like he would never kiss her again. He kissed her like their lives depended on it, like it was the absolute last kiss that they would ever share. Within seconds, his hands found their way out of his wife's dark brown curls and down to her ass, where he picked her up and carried her off to her bedroom. As he carried her, Mellie wrapped her legs around his waist, refusing to take her lips off of his. Their thoughts were the same at this moment; they had lost each other once, they weren't going to let it happen again.

As he laid her down on the bed, Fitz looked down at her, and she knew why he was staring. He was asking her if it was okay. His non-verbal communication was answered with Mellie's quiet verbal communication, her voice low and quiet. "Make love to me, Fitz."

Her words alone made Fitz feel a certain way that he had not felt in a long time. He couldn't pinpoint what that feeling was exactly, but he knew that he had only felt it in one other situation, albeit multiple different times. This feeling only occurred when he was being intimate with Mellie, when the two of them were with one another in their most vulnerable states. Fitz watched as Mellie sat up, and he could tell that she was reluctant to remove her clothing. The last time that he had seen her fully naked was the night that she had tried to pleasure him in the shower, and as a response, he had treated her badly, to say the least. "It's okay, Mellie." He whispered as he leaned down, planting kisses along her neck and her collarbone. After a few kisses, he pulled away so that she could remove her shirt. She pulled it over her head and tossed it in the corner, not breaking eye contact with her husband once.

As she removed her clothing, he removed his as well. Once she was sitting there in her bra and jeans, Mellie leaned forward and ran her hands down her husband's tight abs before she reached for Fitz's zipper, unzipping it slowly and pulling his jeans down his legs. Fitz watched her intently, kicking his pants off and under the bed. When he was left standing in his boxers, he removed her pants, ever so slowly in order to drive her crazy, and continued to go for her bra. He reached around her back and unclipped it, watching as it fell down her shoulders, and down her arms. It had been a long time since he had seen her naked, but God, was she still just as beautiful as she had ever been. He started to take her pink lace underwear off, but stopped when a realization had hit him. It was the first time that they would be making love since he had found out about the rape, about what his father had done to her. What if she didn't want him removing her clothing for her?

But, as always, Mellie had read his mind, and knew exactly what he was thinking as he stared at her waist. "Fitz." She reached forward, running her hand through his soft brown curls. "It's okay. I promise. I'm okay. Please keep going." And with her encouragement, he did. He leaned down over her, tugging the pink fabric down her creamy legs with just his teeth. As he had reached her feet and she kicked off the last bit of clothing that she had left on, he stood up to get a good look at her. This was it. This was his wife, laid out on the bed, completely bare for him. And in this moment, he realized that he couldn't be luckier.

"You're so beautiful..." He whispered, watching Mellie's cheek turn a rosy pink as he took off his boxers, tossing them into the abyss of their other discarded and forgotten articles of clothing. Fitz hovered over her, unable to stop looking at her. As he took his member into his hand and slowly slipped inside of her, Fitz remembered the first time that they had ever made love. He remembered not being able to look away from her, to quit looking at her. She was always breathtaking, no matter what. But there was something about her breathtaking body right before they made love that gave him butterflies. And she had never stopped having that effect on him, even throughout all that they had been through together.

Mellie gasped quietly, and she let out a soft moan as Fitz slid inside of her. He started to move slowly, unsure of exactly what Mellie would be comfortable with. Between being worried about the fact that he now knew of what happened between her and his father, and being worried about this being their first time in a very long time, he wanted this to go Mellie's way, and go how she wanted it to. After everything, she deserved that.

Mellie's mouth found its way to Fitz's, and between the friction of their tongues rubbing together and the feeling of being inside of her, Fitz wasn't sure if he was going to last very long. "Faster." Mellie whispered against her husband's lips, and he obliged, grunting quietly as he increased the pace. They were both trying to keep their moaning and noises down, considering that Teddy was sleeping in the room next to them, and the last thing that either of them wanted to do was wake him. Mellie moved her legs out further, and they both moaned in sync as Fitz plunged even deeper inside of her.

"Oh God..." She whispered, closing her eyes as Fitz's lips discovered her neck, and began sucking and biting at the skin ever-so-lightly. Fitz's pelvic bone rubbed softly against her clit, and a loud moan escaped her open mouth. "Baby, I-"

"Me too." Fitz mumbled against her neck, slamming his hips down against hers. She was moving in sync with him, and by her hitched breathing and her inner muscles slowly starting to tighten around his cock, he knew that he only had a few seconds before Mellie exploded. He took advantage of this as he brought his lips to her earlobe, sucking on it as he whispered to her. "I love you so much."

Almost immediately, Mellie let out a moan, and her muscles began to milk him. Her face scrunched up the way that it always did when she orgasmed, and she dug her nails into Fitz's back. Her orgasm set off his, and he shot his thick creamy seed deep inside of her, kissing her lips as the two of them rode out their climaxes. By the time that the pleasure had completely worn off, they were both seeing stars.

It took some serious recovery time, and it was minutes before either of them spoke. "I missed that." Mellie whispered, her breathing still not quite back to normal.

"Me too." Fitz responded as he looked over at his wife, who's bare chest was rising and falling at an unusually fast pace. He couldn't help but stare, and Mellie just laughed as she pulled the sheet over her chest. "You're so adorable."

She blushed, rolling over on her side so that she was facing him. She wasn't sure how she should ask this question, but she decided to just ask it however it chose to come out. "Do you want to stay here tonight?"

Fitz's response was quick, as if he didn't even have to think about it. "There is nowhere else I would rather be, Mels." He leaned forward and kissed the top of her head before climbing out of bed. Mellie wondered where he was going, but before she had the chance to ask, he tossed her a clean pair of underwear and a t-shirt. "Just in case Teddy comes in in the middle of the night."

Mellie nodded, getting dressed in what he had handed her, and waiting for him to lie back down. When he did, he immediately wrapped his arm around her, pulling her warm body as close to his as possible. She laid her head down on his chest and closed her eyes, and within seconds, she was out like a light. Fitz watched her, gently rubbing her back as her breathing slowed. He was about to fall asleep, but before he did, he thanked his lucky stars for her, and for letting her give him another chance, for letting her say yes. He refused to screw it up this time.


	12. Chapter 12

**_A/N: Hey y'all! Thanks for the reviews, you guys have no idea how much they mean to me. Keep 'em up and keep telling me what you want and hope to see in future chapters. When you tell me what you want, it makes me update more frequently because I don't get writer's block. I hope you enjoy this chapter, it's based off of a suggestion I got recently. :)_**

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When Teddy came into his mother's room, half asleep, he hadn't noticed that his father was sleeping in the bed with Mellie until he had jumped on top of him. He looked at him with confusion and frowned as he pushed on Fitz's shoulder. "Daddy?"

"What, buddy?" Fitz asked as he slowly opened his eyes, looking at his son, who was sitting on his chest.

"Why you here?"

He ruffled Teddy's hair, yawning as he sat up and pulled him into his lap. "Because I spent the night with mommy." He answered, and that was clearly a good enough answer for Teddy, considering that the little boy just snuggled close to his father. Within minutes of him opening his eyes, his phone started to ring, and he couldn't help but to let out a loud groan as he answered it.

"Yes, Elizabeth? No, I'm with Mellie. Yes, in Blair House." He gently rubbed Teddy's back, rolling his eyes as he listened to his new chief of staff complain. "I have no reason to talk to her, tell her to go home. Elizabeth, I don't want to talk to her." He let out a sigh, shaking his head slightly. "You know what, I'll be up there in a few. Thank you for ruining my morning." He hung up the phone and looked at Teddy. "Will you tell mommy that daddy had to go to work? I don't want to wake her up."

Teddy just nodded, sitting up and climbing off of his father. Mellie rolled over on her side and looked at Fitz, frowning slightly. "No need, I heard. Who don't you want to talk to?"

He didn't want to tell her, because he didn't want her to worry that something would happen. But he also remembered their full-disclosure agreement, and he knew that he had to tell her. "Olivia. She's in my office and refuses to leave until she speaks to me in person." He rolled his eyes. "I understand that we had something. I understand that she doesn't want to believe that I picked you over her. But that does not give her the right to show up here and be so damn pushy."

"Language, Fitz." Mellie reminded him as she nodded toward Teddy. Fitz just nodded, frowning as he looked at his wife.

"I'm sorry, it just really gets on my nerves."

"I know that it does, honey, but look at it this way; after you go speak to her and figure out what she wants and tell her face to face that you've made your decision, then you never have to speak to her again. And believe me, I know that seems weird considering your life practically revolved around her for years, but it'll be good. You'll never have to worry about it after this."

Fitz looked at Teddy who was playing with his feet before looking back to Mellie. "Are you saying that more to me or to yourself, Mels?"

She frowned. He knew her too well. Somehow she forgot that they had been married for over twenty years, that even through everything, he knew her like the back of his hand. "I guess it's a little bit of both..." She admitted, a bit ashamed that even after Fitz had made it absolutely clear to her that he chose her over Olivia, she was still jealous.

"It's okay, Mel." He moved closer to her, wrapping his arm around her shoulder. "I promise, it's okay. Nothing is going to happen. Don't you worry about a thing." Fitz softly pecked her lips before getting out of bed and pulling his shirt and jeans on. He still had to go up to the Residence and change, and he wanted nothing more than to get this over with, so he figured he might as well hurry.

"I love you both. I'll see you soon."

"Bye, Fitz." Mellie said, her voice soft and almost inaudible. "I love you too."

* * *

"What do you want?" Fitz asked as he walked into the Oval and spotted Olivia sitting on the couch. There were plenty of times where he had been frustrated and impatient with her, but it was obvious that he was beyond frustrated and impatient at this point.

"I want to hear you say it." Olivia responded simply, sitting up straight as she looked at her former-lover. "I want to hear it come from your mouth. I want you to say that you choose her over me. I saw the text. It's just not enough from me. I want to hear it."

Fitz sighed loudly, shaking his head. "I don't have time for this, Olivia. I have work to do."

"You weren't even in here, you were at Blair House with your wife. Don't use that work excuse with me because you and I both know you don't have work to do. You and I both know that you just want to avoid having this conversation. I know you better than that, Fitz." Olivia stared at him, and Fitz refused to meet her gaze. He didn't want to look at her right now. "And I know you're avoiding this conversation because you can't say it. You can't say that you chose her over me because that's not true. I don't know what's behind all of this, but I know you, and I know you've been promising me that you hated her and that your life with her was over and that you were divorcing her. And you've been promising me a life in Vermont and a family and all of that. So I know you're not choosing her because you love her."

Fitz slammed his fist down on the desk. "Damn it, Olivia! You don't have a clue, do you?" He growled, starting to take a few deep breaths as he remembered what him and Mellie had said about him controlling his anger. "You don't have any idea. I choose her. I choose Mellie. And I'm sorry that you don't like my choice and you can feel free to justify it however you need to in order to make you feel like it wasn't you. You can tell yourself whatever you want. But I love my wife. I love Mellie. And I get that I treated her badly, I get that I lost my head for a long time. But we're fixing things. And I choose her. Because she's stood by my side every single day for over twenty years. Because I made a vow to her. Because I promised her forever, and I'm not going back on the promise."

He looked at Olivia, who looked like she was ready to argue with him. "Save it. Save it and get the hell out of my office. We're done. For good." She didn't budge, and it took everything that he had in him to keep him from screaming at her. "I said get out." Fitz told her through clenched teeth, and after a few seconds of staring him down, Olivia finally got up and glared at him.

"Don't call me in two weeks when things get bad. I've told you multiple times that I'm not your call girl and that you don't get to summon me when you're bored or lonely or horny."

Fitz looked her dead in the eye this time. "Then why have you showed up every single time I called you? Why are you here now?"

She opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out. She pursed her lips and rolled her eyes before walking out of his office, slamming the door behind her.

Fitz looked down at his phone, noticing that he had a text message. He smiled when he realized that it was Mellie. That woman had the best timing. _"Can I move back in today?"_

He read the text over and over again, wondering why she felt the need to ask that question. It was obvious that she still had all four of her walls up, that she was still nervous and that she still felt the need to tip-toe around him. He knew that he needed to break down those walls and that he needed to make her really trust him again, but he knew that that was going to take a long time. So for now, he decided that he would take things at her pace. _"Of course you can. I'll help you move you and Teddy's things back up here after my meeting."_

 _"Don't worry about it. We only have a few bags. Meet you for lunch?"_

 _"Lunch it is, my love."_

When Fitz came up to the Residence, Mellie was sitting on the couch, Teddy in her lap. The little boy was screaming at the top of his lungs, tears streaming down his red face as he pushed his fists into Mellie's chest. "What's going on?"

Mellie shrugged and shook her head, bouncing Teddy up and down. "He doesn't feel good...When I ask him what's wrong, he tells me everything and points to almost every part of his body." She was almost in tears as she spoke over her son's loud sobs. She hated seeing him like this. It killed her to see him like this.

"Aw, poor boy..." Fitz frowned and watched the two of them. He wasn't sure what to do, or how he could help, but he didn't want to just stand there. "Should I go get him some juice or something?" He questioned, and Mellie nodded quickly as she tried to get Teddy to stop screaming. Fitz ran off to get him some juice, and when he came back, Mellie had finally calmed him down.

Teddy was laying in Mellie's lap, his face in her neck and her hair in his mouth. He wasn't sobbing anymore, but was whining quietly. Fitz couldn't help but chuckle when he saw his son chewing on Mellie's hair, but when he looked at Mellie's face, his smile faded. The poor woman looked absolutely exhausted, like every bit of energy had been drained from her. He wondered how long Teddy had been like that before he got up to the Residence, but by the look of it, it had been quite a while.

"What's going on, buddy?" Fitz asked his son, frowning as he sat down on the couch next to them. Teddy just shook his head and whined even louder. He had a tight grip on Mellie's chest, and he squeezed her when he whined, causing Mellie to jump slightly.

"I don't know what's wrong with him. Every single thing hurts him; his stomach, his head, his chest, everything." She sighed. "He keeps trying to breastfeed too, which I don't understand considering that I think I might have breastfed him until he was 3 months old...How does he even know what that is?" She was freaking out, and Fitz could tell. He took her hand and gently squeezed it as he tried to think of the best thing to say to her.

"Well we'll get him to the doctor in a few. Just try to relax, sweetheart. You being stressed out and panicking isn't helping you or him." He rubbed the top of her hand with his thumb. "And breastfeeding is an instinct. Children know. Just like it's mother's instinct to panic when their child is sick and crying, it's their instinct to want to breastfeed. You might as well try it...It won't hurt."

Mellie looked up at him with thankful eyes. She was glad that he was here, that he was calming her down and telling her to breathe. "Do you think it'll do any good?"

"I think in the very least, it'll make him feel a little bit better."

She looked down at Teddy and carefully moved him, which caused the little boy to scream. Mellie flinched at the piercing noise and she tried to get her shirt off as quickly as she possibly could so that she could make it stop. She hated hearing him scream like that, it brought tears to her eyes. When she had finally managed to unclip her bra with one hand, she didn't have to do anything else; Teddy immediately lunged for her breast, latching on and pulling his legs up under his stomach, exactly like he had when he was an infant.

"I'm gonna go call the doctor, Mels. Yell for me if you need anything." He stood up and kissed her head, leaving the room so that he could call and tell the doctor that they were coming. Before he dialed the number, he said a little prayer and prayed to God that their son was okay.

A/N: So what did y'all think? Olivia will be a discussion between Mellie and Fitz in the next few chapters, so don't worry about that. Let me know what you think and make suggestions on what you want to see!


	13. Chapter 13

**_A/N: Sorry for the long wait, and sorry it's so short. Let me know what you think and review review review!_**

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Mellie was lying on the couch, Teddy lying on top of her, his head rested on her chest. Teddy was sleeping, but Mellie couldn't manage to fall asleep with the extreme nausea that she was experiencing. She put it off and assumed that she was just catching the stomach flu that Teddy had been diagnosed with a few days prior.

Fitz had been working all day, since Elizabeth had been on his ass about how little work he had been doing in the past few weeks. For the past few days, he had been up before Mellie, and had gotten back up to the Residence right as she was about to go to sleep. It was getting frustrating to not be able to see her husband as much as she wanted to, but she knew that there was nothing that he could do about it. Besides, she had had her hands full with their sick son and barely had any time that wasn't spent with him. Half the time, she was so busy she didn't even notice that Fitz wasn't there.

"How are you two feeling?" Fitz whispered as he walked over to his wife and child, trying his hardest to be quiet so that he didn't wake up Teddy. He knew that he was cranky when he was woken up, and he didn't want Mellie to have to deal with that. Especially not right now. He leaned down and kissed the top of Mellie's head.

She shrugged, turning her head slightly to look at her husband. "Not too hot. And I'm speaking for both of us on that one." She frowned. "Teddy has a fever and took forever to get to sleep, and I feel like any second now I'm going to have to get up and run to the bathroom to throw up."

"I'm sorry you're not feeling well, honey." Fitz ran his hand through Mellie's hair, letting out a small sigh. He hated seeing her not feeling well, about as much as he hated seeing his children not feeling well. And seeing both of them sick, he especially hated that. He sat down next to his wife, ruffling Teddy's hair. "Try to sleep. I'll be here if he wakes up. You need to rest too."

Mellie nodded, slowly closing her eyes. "I know. Thank you, Fitz." She mumbled, getting comfortable as carefully as she could, so that she didn't wake up Teddy. When she was finally in a slightly comfortable position, she let herself try to fall asleep, and within minutes, she was out like a light.

The next few days drug on, and while Teddy was starting to feel better, Mellie was far from feeling better. She had been throwing up every few hours, and Fitz had taken a few days off of work to help take care of her and Teddy. Even though Teddy wasn't sick anymore, Mellie was, and she wasn't in any condition to be taking care of their son.

Fitz and Mellie were in the bathroom, Mellie hovering over the toilet and Fitz kneeled down behind her, holding her hair back. This had become a regular routine between them, and Fitz was beginning to get worried. As Mellie sat up and leaned back against him, he started to say something, but Mellie had beat him to the punch, speaking first. "I'm late."

Her words stabbed him like a knife. He knew that if she was pregnant, it wasn't his. It would have to be Andrew's. The timing wasn't right for it to be his; the first time that they had had sex in a long time was the other night, and that there was no way that she could already be pregnant from then. He couldn't help but be upset, but he knew that he had to be strong for Mellie. He knew that this was not what she wanted either, and that she was most likely even more upset than he was.

"Okay..." Fitz looked at her, running his fingers through her tangled brown hair. "Well, don't get too worked up yet, Mel. We don't know anything for sure." He kissed the top of her head, gently rubbing her back with his free hand. "I can have someone go get you some tests..."

Mellie sniffled, wiping a few tears from her face as she nodded her head. She leaned into Fitz's touch, taking a deep, hitched breath. "Please...I don't really want to know, but I just want to get this over with."

Fitz nodded and took out his phone, sending out a message before putting it away and turning his attention back to his wife. "Alright. They'll be here in a little over an hour. Let's get up and go relax until then, okay?" He stood up and took his wife's hand, helping Mellie stand up. She gave him a small sincere smile and walked with him to their bedroom, climbing up into their bed and cuddling up under the comforter. When Fitz got into bed, she moved closer to him, laying her head on his chest and snuggling as close to his body as possible. She was glad that he was reacting so well; she didn't expect it to be like this when she had told him. He was truly sticking to his word this time.

A little over an hour later, Abby knocked on the door, and Fitz carefully moved away from Mellie to answer it. He took the brown paper bag that she had, and thanked her for being so helpful. When he came back, Mellie was awake, sitting up and trying to completely wake up. "Do you have it?" She questioned, and Fitz just nodded as he handed the bag to her.

"Do you want me in there?"

Mellie shook her head. She wouldn't be able to do it if he was in there watching her try to pee on sticks. She just took the bag and went into the bathroom. Fitz sat on the bed and held his breath for what seemed like hours, until Mellie called his name. "Fitz..."

He slowly walked into the bathroom, and Mellie motioned at the multiple tests sitting on the counter. The pink plus signs on every one of them could not be mistaken.


End file.
